Part 1

FLOWER GUIDE REVISED AND WITH NEW ILLUSTRATIONS WILD FLOWERS EAST OF THE ROCKIES

BY CHESTER A. REED Author of “North American Birds’ Eggs,” “Bird Guide,” Etc.

_With 320 Flowers in Color, Painted by the Author_

GARDEN CITY NEW YORK DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1927

Copyrighted, 1907 CHAS. K. REED Worcester, Mass.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.

PREFACE

Whose heart is not gladdened at the sight of the first Mayflower or Arbutus in the spring? Who can pass a body of water, its surface glistening with the beauty of the Water Lily, without appreciation? In the fall who can traverse a field blind to the brilliancy of the seas of Purple Asters and gleams of the Goldenrod? Yet it is only within a very few years that there has been any real, concerted interest shown by the masses in Nature Study. To be sure, botany has long been taught in some of the higher schools, but it was of advantage only to comparatively few. Now the call for knowledge, or at least the name, of what is seen in their daily rambles is voiced by tens of thousands.

Since the publication, early in 1906, of the first edition of Bird Guide, the author has been besieged by requests from all parts of the country, and from people in every walk and station of life, to continue the idea and bring out similar volumes on flowers, butterflies, fish, animals, etc. The present volume has been carefully prepared with two objects always in view—to serve the greatest number of persons in the best possible way—and still have a volume that can be carried in the pocket with little or no discomfort. The great majority of the colored paintings have been made directly from living plants, and the balance, with few exceptions, from herbarium specimens. They represent normal specimens and have been so chosen as to include those of the conspicuous flowering plants found from the Atlantic seaboard west to the States of the Mississippi Valley. Using my 25 years, devoted largely to the study of living things, as a criterion, I have endeavored to incorporate in the text and in the pictures just those points that will best serve to identify a flower that the reader may find. The introductory pages give the life cycle of a plant from seed to seed and many curious facts concerning curious plants.

Should this volume identify some of the flowers that the reader may discover, and give him a clearer idea of the appearance and beauty of the growing things that may be found, the author’s purpose will have been fully accomplished.

CHESTER A. REED.

Worcester, Mass., 1907.

INTRODUCTORY

A plant is a wonderful organism, yet how few of us realize it as we casually glance at the flowers growing by the wayside. We see a beautiful flower; we know that in the course of time it withers and fades away; and we know that the next year the plant grows up again, sends forth its buds, which at the proper time unfold their petals, and so the cycle continues year after year, while we give little thought to the change that occurs, the cause and its effect. Volumes might be written, and a great many have been since the time of Darwin, upon the many interesting processes by which various flowers are propagated. As this book is confined chiefly to the identification of flowers, we will give but a few illustrations between flowering seasons. We see in most flowers a thing of beauty; their real and, to them, most important function is to produce seeds to perpetuate the species.

The parts of a flower that are necessary to produce seeds are the pistil, with its stigma at the top and ovule at the base, and the stamens with their pollen-laden anthers. A flower that has these organs is known as a perfect flower; if, in addition, it has a corolla and calyx, or petals and sepals, it is known as a complete flower. On the opposite page are shown a number of flowers with their parts named.

In order that seed may be set, it is necessary that ripened pollen from the anthers should come in contact with the usually sticky stigma, whence it will be transmitted down the style and germinate the ovule. As is well known to be the case with the higher animals, cross-fertilization is necessary in order to insure a good, vigorous species. It is also evident that should the pollen continue to fertilize the ovule in the same flower, the plants in successive generations might become weakened and finally die out and the species be lost. To avoid such a calamity, flowers are constructed so as to facilitate cross-fertilization and the means that some of them adopt towards insuring that end are remarkable. The stamens on most of the simple flowers usually curve outwards, so that the pollen-laden anthers are far enough removed so that there is little danger of the pollen falling on the stigma, at least until after cross-fertilization has already taken place. Others have either the anthers or stigma ripen first, so that it must necessarily be pollen from another blossom that quickens the seed.

We all marvel at the industry of the honey bee; how tirelessly it buzzes from flower to flower, from each gathering a drop of the nectar, with which it fills its cells; but we do not always realize the double duty it is doing, for it is a most reliable and active agent for the propagations of a great many plants. Many butterflies, bees, and even beetles unconsciously accomplish the same result, and it is now conceded that each has special colors that are attractive to them. For instance, the bumblebee has a strong preference for blues and purples. The observer will also notice that a bee makes the rounds from flower to flower, taking all of one kind and passing by other species. While this habit undoubtedly avoids some complications, even should he mix his drinks and visit in succession flowers of widely different species, confusion would not be apt to result, for the stigma of one species is usually not responsive to pollen brought from blossoms of another family.

Botanists go a step further; not content with the discovery that certain insects like certain colors, they claim (and apparently with good reason) that the bright and showy petals are for the sole purpose of attracting insects; they are, in fact, bill boards advertising the fact that there is a store of honey there ready for the asking. On the other hand, those flowers that are self-fertilized or wind-fertilized have inconspicuous blossoms.

The stigma always partially obstructs the entrance to the food supply, so that the visiting bee must brush against it, and in doing so will leave some of the pollen that he has brought from the last flower visited on its sticky surface. The pollen-dust is attached to the insect in various ways, usually simply by his brushing against the anthers with his hairy body, for it is found that nearly all the useful insects have downy or hairy bodies; other flowers set a sort of spring gun and when the insect steps on the trigger he is showered with the germs (Laurel for example); still others have clefts to catch the legs of visitors, releasing them only if they are strong enough to tear away the pollen masses (such a flower is well illustrated in the Milkweed). Besides having bright colored petals, many of the flowers also have a pleasing odor, this also serving to attract certain kinds of insects; others have very unpleasant odors, like the skunk-cabbage or even like that of putrid meat, as in the carrion flower and the purple trillium, these odors being apparently for the purpose of attracting certain scavenger insects. There are also some flowers, like the evening primrose, that are seen at their best after dusk, when the light-colored petals are widespread and a delicate perfume given off to attract the moths and sphinges that visit them.

It is evident that a flower secreting honey may be visited by unwelcome guests, ones that will accept of the nectar, but will make no useful return. Any insect with a shiny, smooth body whether winged or not, is of little use in fertilizing a plant, for even should it receive pollen, it will in all probability have fallen off before the next flower is visited. Ants being particularly fond of sweet things and so small that they can enter a flower without disturbing the anthers, frequently drain the nectar cups so no useful insect will visit them, and they fail to reproduce their kind. Nature has a number of quite effective ways of preventing thefts of this kind, one of the most common ways being to provide the plant stem with bristly hairs, forming a very difficult barrier for any crawling insect to overcome; others have a tuft of hair at the very entrance to the honey cells which bar the way for unwelcome guests, but readily allow the bee to insert its tongue; still others are protected by recurved leaves or by sticky stems, or as in the toadflax by a two-lipped flower, which will open under the weight of a bumblebee, but is effectively closed to any lighter insect.

The seeds, having been set, are enclosed in a capsule composed of the closed and dried sepals, the petals having fallen off; in a pod as in the peas and beans; or in fruit, as inside an apple, which is formed by the base of the flower enlarging about the seeds with the calyx remaining at the top of the ripened fruit, or in the strawberry, where the seeds are on the outside of the berry and the calyx at the bottom of the fruit. It is plain that should these seeds simply fall to the ground, plants of a single species would soon become so crowded in a small area that the earth could not support them. Consequently various means are furnished different plants for the dispersion of their seeds. A great number, like the thistles, milkweeds and dandelions, have plume-like parachutes provided for each seed, so they can float away on the breeze to new fields; those that have their seeds embedded in fruit are entrusted to birds to be carried where fate wills it; others, like beggar-ticks, burdock, etc., have spines to attach themselves to the clothing of people or to the coats of animals that brush against them.

As certain insects prey upon plants or rob them of their nectar, so certain plants prey upon insects, literally eating them or absorbing them into their system. Best known among these are the pitcher plants, a swamp species, whose leaves are pitcher-like and with a hood or awning over the top to keep out the rain; these leaves are half filled with a sweet fluid that attracts insects, makes them tipsy and causes their death in the watery grave, the plant feeding largely upon the resulting broth. Of another type is the round-leaved sundew, also a common plant; its leaves are covered with short bristly hairs, a drop of gum glistening at the end of each. A fly investigating these is soon caught in the sticky gum and the leaf slowly folds together, enveloping the victim in what might be termed the stomach of the plant. Perhaps the most interesting and surely the most peculiar plant is the Venus fly-trap, which is found only in eastern North Carolina. At the end of each leaf is apparently a smaller one, perhaps an inch in diameter; this is fringed around the edge and rather bristly in the centre. These central bristles are very sensitive and if touched or an insect lights upon the leaf, the two parts of the leaf instantly clasp together on the central stem as a hinge. If nothing is caught, in a short time the trap opens again; if, however, the attempt has been successful it will remain closed for several days or a week, until the victim is entirely absorbed by the glands on the inner surface of the leaf.

As in the animal world, so in the plant world; always a struggle for existence, the strong surviving and the weak falling by the wayside. The old adage that “In union there is strength” is amply proved by many of the composite flowers, such as the asters and goldenrods, whose stalks are not only capped with numerous flower-heads, but each flower-head is composed of hundreds of little perfect florets, so closely set together that even should an insect but crawl across the flower-head he will fertilize a number of them. That their plan is a good one is seen by the steady increase in the numbers of these flowers and the rapid strides with which they occupy new territory. On the other hand, compare such flowers as the lady’s slippers, fringed gentian and numbers of others that are yearly becoming less common.

FLOWER GUIDE

WILD FLOWERS EAST OF THE ROCKIES

_Grouped in their Natural Order as in the Latest Edition of Gray’s Botany_

CAT-TAIL FAMILY (_Typhaceæ_)

The members of this family are very abundant aquatic herbs with perennial roots. We have two species with differences as noted below. Both have staminate yellow flowers in a spike above pistillate brown ones; the former soon fall or blow away, while the latter develop into the large, familiar, brown cat-tail that is often used for decorative purposes.

(A) Common Cat-tail (_Typha latifolia_) has yellowish staminate flowers encircling the upper end of the flower stalk, and immediately below a long cylindrical mass of brownish pistillate ones. The pollen grains are arranged in fours. Leaves three to eight feet long, sheathing at the base. Found in marshes throughout the United States and southern Canada, flowering in June and July.

(B) Narrow-leaved Cat-tail (_Typha angustifolia_) has narrower leaves, averaging less than ¾ in. broad. The two kinds of flowers are separated by a bare space of stalk and the pollen grains are simple.

BUR REED FAMILY (_Sparganiaceæ_)

The Bur Reeds are marsh-inhabitating plants, some growing along the muddy shores of ponds or streams, while other species are strictly aquatic, growing in the water with floating leaves. Like the Cat-tails they are not in the least dependent upon insects for fertilization. The two kinds of flowers, staminate and pistillate, are always in separate spherical clusters usually alternately arranged along the stem.

(A) Great Bur Reed (_Sparganium eurycarpum_) is stout and erect, two to three feet in height. The mature heads, or fruit, about one inch across; composed of wedge-shaped nutlets arranged in the form of a sphere. The basal leaves are similar to those of the Cat-tail and clasp the stems. These plants are found in the whole of the U.S. and southern Canada, flowering from June to August.

(B) Branching Bur Reed (_S. androcladum_) throws off several weak flower-bearing branches from the angles of the upper leaves.

WATER PLANTAIN FAMILY (_Alismaceæ_)

Genus Arrow-head (_Sagittaria_). Arrow-heads or Sagittarias are among our most beautiful water plants. The leaves vary greatly in shape but are always graceful in appearance. All species have three pure white petals with a golden centre formed by the large anthers. They usually grow in the water but sometimes on the muddy shores, and flower in June.

(A) Broad-leaved Arrow-head (_Sagittaria latifolia_) has broad, arrow-shaped leaves on long petioles from the root. The 3-petalled white flowers grow in whorls of three, the upper ones being staminate and the lower pistillate. Seed, winged on both edges and with a twisted horizontal beak. This species is smooth, but a variety (pubescens) has the stem quite wooly. Common in the whole of our range.

(B) Narrow-leaved Arrow-head (_S. Engelmanniana_) has very narrow leaves with linear sagittate bases. The seeds are winged but the beak points upward instead of being bent at an angle as in the last.

ARUM FAMILY (_Araceæ_)

This is quite a large family of plants containing six genera. All have acrid or pungent juices; flowers closely crowded on a spadix, usually surrounded by a spathe; leaves either simple or compound and of various shapes.

Genus (_Arisæma_)

Jack-in-the-Pulpit or Indian Turnip (_Arisæma triphyllum_) is the most abundant and the best-known representative of this genus. In moist woods you will find Jack, represented by the spadix, looking out at you from his pulpit, represented by the spathe of the flower. The spathe is light green, more or less striped with brown, especially on the inside; the spadix is also green and has the tiny flowers clustered about its base. The large solid roots are very acrid and fiery to the taste, but are said to have been relished by the Indians. Usually two, thrice-compounded leaves spread shelteringly on long stems over the flower spathe. Large clusters of bright berries remain after the leaves have withered. Flowers throughout U. S. from April to July.

(A) Water Arum (_Calla palustris_) is our only representative of its genus. It is quite a common plant in cool bogs, where it grows from six inches to a foot in height. The beautiful dark green heart-shaped leaves stand above the water on long petioles. A beautiful, waxy-white, spreading spathe is often mistaken for the flower. The true flowers are small and perfect, clustered at the end of a yellow spadix. The flowering season is in June. You may find this plant commonly in cool bogs from N. J. and Mo. northward.

(B) Golden Club (_Orontium aquaticum_) is also our only member of its genus. As you will see by the opposite picture, there is no protective spathe for the golden floral club.

The florets are complete, having six sepals and stamens; they are set closely on the swollen spadix and attract many flies and even water snails that cross-fertilize them simply by crawling over the clubs.

The leaves of the Golden Club are pointed oblong in shape, floating on the surface of the water by means of long stems from the perennial rootstalk. Flowers in May from Mass. to Fla. and westward.

Genus (_Symplocarpus_)

The common Skunk Cabbage (_Symplocarpus fœtidus_) although regarded by many only with disgust, has one claim that cannot be disputed, that of being our first flower to bloom each year. It is not uncommon to find them with the shell-like spathe above ground and the pollen fully ripened even in January, although from the latter part of February to the first of May is the usual flowering season.

The flower spathes show a great diversity of coloring according to their age, ranging from a pale green sparingly streaked with brown to an almost solid purple tone.

The flowers are small, perfect, and closely crowded on the thick fleshy spadix, concealed or partially so by the large, thick purple and green stained hood. The leaves appear after the flower has withered or commenced to do so; they are bright green, large, cabbage-like and strongly veined; quite handsome, in fact. These plants range from N. S. to Minn., and southward, chiefly in boggy ground.

SPIDERWORT FAMILY (_Commelinaceæ_)

(A) Day-flower (_Commelina communis_) is one of a very few of our native plants having pure blue flowers. Each blossom lasts but a single day.

The stem is rather weak, much jointed, and attains heights of one to two feet. Two petals are large, rounded and blue, while the third is tiny and colorless; the whole flower peeps out from a clasping, cordate, heart-shaped leaf or spathe. Found from southern Mass. to Mich. and southward, blooming in rich woods or dooryards from June to Sept.

(B) Spiderwort; Job’s Tears (_Tradescantia virginiana_), like the Day Flower, remains open for but part of a day, after which the petals contract into glutinous drops.

The stem is hairy and sticky; from one to two feet high. Three purple petals, three brown, hairy sepals and six orange-tipped stamens compose the flowers. They may be found in rich soil from Me. to Mich. and southward, flowering from June to August.

PICKEREL-WEED FAMILY (_Pontederiaceæ_)

(A) Pickerel-weed (_Pontederia cordata_) is an exceedingly abundant water plant, growing profusely in shallow ponds or along the edges of fresh-water streams, and flowering from June to August.

The flowers grow on a spike that proceeds from a small, green, leaf-like spathe; the 3 upper divisions of the 6-parted perianth are partially united, but the 3 lower ones are spreading; they are a light violet-blue with two yellow spots at the base of the upper united parts. A single heart-shaped, cordate leaf clasps the stem about midway, while others on long petioles grow from the rootstalk. Commonly found from N. S. to Manitoba and southward.

(B) Mud Plantain (_Heteranthera reniformis_) has a slender, few-flowered spike proceeding from a small sheath-like spathe. The perianth is blue and regularly 6-parted. The leaves are round-lobed, kidney-shaped, floating on long stalks from the root. Found from Ct. to Neb. and southward.

LILY FAMILY (_Liliaceæ_)

This is an exceedingly large family containing more than 80 species in our range, divided into 33 genera.

(A) Bellwort (_Uvularia perfoliata_) is common in rich woods. The stem, reaching a length of 6 to 18 in., rises from a short rootstalk. A single, straw-colored flower is pendent from the end of each drooping branch; it is long, bell-shaped, and has six narrow divisions. The leaves are light green, lance-shaped, and pierced by the stem. The slightly fragrant flowers are so concealed by their drooping position as to be invisible from above. They blossom in May and June throughout the U. S.

(B) Oakesia; Wild Oats (_Oakesia sessifolia_) has an angular stem from 6 to 14 in. long. The ovate-lanceolate leaves are seated on the stem and not pierced by it. The one or two flowers are similar in size and coloring to those of Bellwort but the interior is smooth while the latter has rough ridges. This species is common from Me. to Minn. and southward.

ONION; GARLIC Genus (_Allium_)

The various species belonging to this genus are very strongly scented, pungent herbs growing from a coated bulb.

(A) Wild Leek; Wild Onion (_Allium tricoccum_) is a woodland plant blooming in May and June. The flowers are in an umbel at the top of a scape 6 to 20 in. high. The flower perianth is divided into six greenish-white sepals. The leaves are oblong-lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, on long petioles from the bulbous root, but usually withering before the flowers appear. Found from N. B. to Minn. and southward.

(B) Wild Garlic (_Allium canadense_) has few purplish 6-parted flowers on slender pedicels from a cluster of bulblets at the top of a scape 10 to 24 in. high. The leaves are grass-like, sheathing the stem above the fibrous bulb. Flowers in May and June in moist meadows, from N. B. to Mich. and southward.

Day Lily (_Hemerocallis fulva_) (European) will, we think, prove a welcome addition to our flora. It is now locally abundant in R. I., Conn., and N. Y. It flourishes best near salt water and spreads rapidly by means of its running roots as well as by seed. The flower stalk is tall, 2 to 5 feet, and at its summit bears eight or nine buds which open one or two a day into large showy flowers.